


the way it was supposed to happen

by tash_xo



Series: jatp oneshots [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Reconciliation, julie and carrie miss each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29824800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tash_xo/pseuds/tash_xo
Summary: it wasn't supposed to happen this way.carrie wasn't meant to be watching julie's success from the sidelines.julie wasn't meant to be hitting these milestones without her mom, and without one of the girls who had dreamed this dream with her.life doesn't happen the way it was supposed to.
Relationships: Julie Molina & Carrie Wilson
Series: jatp oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2192499
Kudos: 13





	the way it was supposed to happen

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

 _Carrie_ was supposed to be the one performing in front of large crowds. _Carrie_ should have been the one performing with Julie, not that hologram band. That was how they had always planned it. Julie, Flynn and Carrie, girl power band. And when Julie chose to stop playing music altogether, when _Carrie_ had put her heart and soul into Dirty Candi, _Carrie_ had been the one to put in the graft and had made herself the promise that one day she would make it, she would take over the world.

But within a matter of weeks, Julie had found her voice, found a band and somehow scored a gig at the Orpheum.

Carrie was jealous. Anyone could see it, except maybe her dad, but he was oblivious to her feelings most of the time. All her hard work and no recognition.

But a smaller part of Carrie was feeling left out. The girl she had grown up with was performing at The Orpheum and she was a spectator, not a part of the fun. Part of Carrie had thought that Julie would always need her, and didn’t want her to succeed without her because it would prove that something was missing, but instead she seemed to be proving that she never needed her at all.

There was one other feeling that presented itself, though Carrie tried to squash it down as deep as possible. She was proud of Julie. She would probably never show it, but this girl had once been like a sister to her, and to watch her rediscover her love of music and score an incredible opportunity made a part of Carrie want to hug her. The performance had been amazing, and she couldn’t deny that they were insanely talented.

Before she even realised what she was doing, her phone was in her hand, and she was texting a number she hadn’t had contact with in over a year.

_[to: Julie Molina, from: Carrie]  
Congrats on the Orpheum performance. It was really good. -Carrie.  
[sent 11:24AM]_

* * *

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

Firstly, Julie’s mom should have been there at her first big important performance. There’s no way that would ever stop feeling strange. Secondly, since she could remember, the plan was to perform with Flynn, not 3 dead boys. Well, to perform with Flynn _and_ Carrie, but that plan had gone out the window over a year ago.

Freshman year coinciding with your mom getting sick? Not the best for your popularity, not that Julie had cared about that. Carrie got more popular and Julie, well, didn’t, and eventually she was left with only Flynn. Julie stopped confiding in Carrie, and then the girls stopped talking altogether. She’s not sure when the hostility started, but starting to play music again only seemed to make it worse, because suddenly Carrie saw her as competition. She’s not sure when the girl she knew better than anyone (except Flynn) became the girl who hated her.

Luke thinks that Carrie is just jealous of her musical abilities, but Julie doesn’t think that’s true, or if it is, its not the whole truth. Carrie has always had an incredible voice, and she has always been able to pick up dance routines a lot quicker than Julie.

Reggie suggested that Carrie is just taking out her own insecurities on Julie, which she admits is a pretty good explanation, except for the fact that she never did anything like that before they fell out. She was never a particularly nasty person beforehand, so Julie’s not quite sure what changed.

Alex is the only one out of the band to admit that he likes Carrie’s whole brand, even though they all managed to guess that when he joined her on stage. He adds that from what they saw of Bobby ( _Trevor_ , she quietly corrects), he’s not very present, and that kind of parental neglect can have an effect on a kid. She’s always trying to do these big performances to get attention, and Julie’s doing that almost effortlessly. Julie argued back that it definitely isn’t effortless, and Alex knows that, but he also points out that Carrie almost definitely doesn’t.

Flynn is at as much of a loss as to why Carrie is so rude to them, but she decided to go with it and dish it right back. It never felt quite right to Julie to be rude back, but Flynn has no qualms about it, claiming that Carrie did it first so its completely fine to retaliate.

However.

Despite everything that’s happened, her first big performance doesn’t feel right without one of the girls who she had always dreamed big with.

She thinks she might have glimpsed her in the crowd during the song, but she doesn’t know if she did or if she imagined it. She was a bit preoccupied with the guys being okay and possibly passing over to spend too much time deliberating over whether or not Carrie had come.

The next day, Julie was filling a vase with water to put the flowers that Nick had given her in, when her phone chimed, telling her she had received a text. It didn’t prepare her for the text, or the sender.

[ _11:24AM_ ]  
[ _New message from: Carrie Wilson_ ]  
[ _Congrats on the Orpheum performance. It was really good. -Carrie._ ]

* * *

[ _Conversation with Carrie Wilson_ ]

_Congrats on the Orpheum performance. It was really good. -Carrie._

_Thank you Carrie. That means a lot to me._  
_seen: 11:37AM_

* * *

It didn’t happen they way they had planned it. But most things in life don’t go exactly to plan.

When Julie walked back into school on Monday, it felt like something had shifted. Most of her classmates knew about how she had performed at the Orpheum, and she was getting a lot more attention than she was used to.

When Carrie walked back into school on Monday, she knew something had shifted. She knew that deep down she missed her friend, and that she wanted to do something about it. Which is way she made a beeline to Julie’s locker.

Julie was a little unnerved that a lot of people were watching her, a sort of semi-circle forming around her locker. Not close enough to actually bother her, but enough to be wary. And then Carrie appeared.

“Hi, Julie.” Her voice was softer than usual, and she looked nervous, but her lips curved into a small smile, possibly trying to indicate that she didn’t mean any harm.  
“Hey.”

“I, um, I wanted to congratulate you again on your performance. And, well, to apologise for how I’ve been treating you. Its not been fair to you, and I really regret it. Its not an excuse, but I miss my friend. And I went the wrong way about trying to get past it. I should have been trying to reconcile with you, instead of alienating you. So. I truly am sorry. I hope you don’t hate me, because I never hated you.”

Julie’s eyes roamed Carrie’s face, noting that she seemed to really be genuine, and to really mean it. She nodded. “Thank you. I forgive you.” Carrie deflated a bit. “But that doesn’t mean we’re suddenly best friends again.” Carrie nodded. “There’s still a lot to unpack and deal with. And, you have to apologise and talk to Flynn yourself. I may forgive you, but that girl can hold a grudge. That’s going to be a tough one.”

Carrie gave a small little laugh. “I know.”

The bell rang for their first class. Julie hesitated a moment, then pulled Carrie in for a short hug. It was so quick that she didn’t even have time to respond.

“I’ll see you later, Carrie.”  
“See you around, Julie.”

As Julie headed to meet Flynn at their first class, she missed Carrie’s small smile getting slightly bigger, as she herself headed to class, her good mood lasting for the rest of the day.


End file.
